Portable radios often come equipped with replaceable antennas, removable battery packs and a variety of interchangeable accessories, such as remote earpiece or speaker microphone. Some radio products are being equipped with a single wire bus connection at an accessory connector to identify attached accessories with a memory device embedded in the accessory. An embedded memory device has also been used in smart batteries to identify the battery cell chemistry and capacity. Replacement antennas, however, must be of the same type, operating over the same band, and are simply used to replace antennas that have been lost or misplaced by the operator. The antenna, though replaceable, is not typically viewed as an interchangeable device since the radios usually operate only in a particular frequency band and antennas must be crafted to work properly with a particular radio model.
Portable radios are typically designed as platforms with standardized connectors for the antenna. Since the radios may operate only in a particular band, it is incumbent on the radio operator to install the proper antenna for radio operation. Many antennas look alike and it may not be obvious to the operator whether the correct antenna is installed for a particular operating band. If the wrong antenna is coupled to the radio, the radio will not operate properly within the communications system. Experience has shown that regardless of instructions in the radio's manual for proper antenna selection, a significant percentage of radios are found to be equipped with the wrong antenna for the radio's intended use.
Accordingly, there is a need for an antenna apparatus and system that provides an unambiguous means for the radio itself to determine if the correct antenna has been installed, allowing error messages to be reported if the wrong antenna is in place. Additionally, an antenna that could be tuned to operate over a broader bandwidth and provide greater radiating efficiency would be highly desirable to reduce the number of antenna models from which to select.